How to escape a marriage
by Jellyfish Jam
Summary: Trouble stirs when Stoick tells Hiccup one day that he has to be married to some girl he's never met before.  And worse yet, she's a total brat!  What could Stoick possibly have been thinking! Mostly HiccupxAstrid.  Rated T to be safe. R
1. Chapter 1

**I can be wickedly cruel sometimes, so I like seeing my favorite characters in pain or suffering. I'm a little sick that way, but I'm sure most people are the same way. Anyways, this is a fan fiction I thought up of because I greatly enjoy seeing Hiccup in distress. I also remembered that long ago people used to have arranged marriages and such and I thought it would be funny. The view points are Hiccup and Astrid.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. But if I did, that would be awesome!**

**Chapter One Hiccup**

"_It's raining sunshine! It's raining sunshine! All over mankind! It's raining sunshine! As real as it can be! Believe in what you see! It's not just your mind, its raining sunshine!"_

My father, Stoick the Vast, was one of those people who can walk into a room and everyone can't help but turn their heads to stare. He's confident and proud and strong; the opposite of me in almost every aspect. Stoick could even make wearing a dress look manly. But he was terrible at hiding a secret. When Stoick was trying to hide something, you could immediately tell. He'd shuffle around nervously and constantly look over his shoulder as if a ghoul was after him.

Much like he was doing one particularly nice, sunny day some time during one summer. I knew there was something wrong with him. Toothless knew there was something wrong. My friends knew there was something wrong. _Everyone in the entire village _knew there was something wrong. What exactly was wrong, however, nobody was sure of.

I had a feeling it had something to do with a letter that had arrived for him a few days before. My father hated to read, so it took him a few days to actually _read_ it, whether or not it was important. But when he finally did, he went very pale in the face and excused himself from the table. I didn't see him again for the rest of the day.

It was eating me so much that I could hardly concentrate during Dragon Training. I was so distracted that I didn't even notice Gobber standing in front of me, glaring and waiting for me to pay attention.

"_**HICCUP!**_" he hollered suddenly, making me jump. "_**Pay attention!**_"

"Sorry Sir," I mumbled miserably, staring at the ground as Snotlout snickered beside me. "It won't happen again."

"Are you ok, Hiccup?" Astrid asked me with concern. "You seem a little distracted."

"No," I replied. "I'm just a little distracted."

"Well stop being distracted and start focusing," Gobber told me unsympathetically. "This is very important stuff I'm teaching you. Dragon training is very serious. One false move and you'll have a good chance of ending up dead."

"That's encouraging," I muttered under my breath to Fishlegs. He nodded solemnly.

"Today," Gobber continued, "We're going to be learning the fantastic style of fighting while riding your dragon. This can be very important when protecting yourself and your dragon from enemy dragons that aren't as friendly as ours. Your dragon can only do so much. You must be able defend your dragon from all sides."

"Um, Gobber," Fishlegs interrupted, raising his hand. "Will we ever need to use this skill?"

"I'm 78% sure you will," Gobber replied cheerfully.

"Only 78?" I asked him a tad concerned. He blinked at me.

"That's over half, right?" he asked me, not being too good at math. I sighed, rolling my eyes slightly. "Now then, call your dragons and let's get started."

Toothless was by my side almost before I even finished calling him. I expertly leaped up onto his back and we took off into the air. My friends still had some difficulty mounting their dragons. For a long time I had to constantly show them how to ride the dragon properly. Fishlegs still had some trouble steering his Gronkle and would sometimes crash it into a wall.

The purpose today was to dodge and hit back the various objects that Gobber flung at us with his catapult. Snotlout was bragging about how he could easily catch everything with one hand (while not moving at all, might I add) but said that he was going to be "fair" and give us all a "fighting chance." We took it to mean that he couldn't really do it.

Normally, I would let Toothless do the work so I could collect my thoughts, but of course we were connected. He couldn't fly without me and I would never be able to forgive myself for that. So I forced myself to concentrate as I drew my sword, breathing in a deep sigh. Then Gobber started letting fly huge boulders at us.

Toothless, for the most part, just blasted most of the rocks with his fire. He barely even gave the others a chance. I could immediately tell that he was enjoying himself.

_Unlike some people,_ I thought, looking down to where I could see my house on the hillside. I was worried about my father. He hadn't been acting himself lately. I had resolved to ask him what was eating at him, but had not yet found the right words to use. My father and I had grown a lot closer lately, especially after I had been able to prove myself against that terrible Dragon a few months before. I was no longer an embarrassment to him. I didn't want to do anything to ruin that so quickly.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Astrid called to me, warning me to look out. I was just in time to barely dodge the particularly huge boulder that Gobber had hurled my way. Toothless had to take a long moment to regain his balance.

"Sorry about that," I muttered to my friend. All I got from him was a slightly angry glance.

"What's been up with you?" Astrid asked me after we had landed safely on the grounded. "You've been really out there lately."

"It's just my father," I told her with a sigh. "There's something wrong with him and I've been really worried. It's like something is coming to get him or something."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed too," Astrid admitted. "What are you planning on doing about it?"

"I was going to try and ask him what's wrong," I replied. "But I'm afraid I might say something wrong and upset him. I've finally won his trust back and I don't want to shatter it so quickly."

"I'll come with you," she offered immediately. I tried not reply immediately. I didn't want to look so pathetic that I had to rely on Astrid to do anything. I tried to casually shrug my scrawny shoulders.

"If you want to," I replied calmly. She rolled her eyes slightly and we started up towards my house, with Toothless trailing behind us. Astrid pressed gently by my side and I tried not to shiver. I still found it hard to believe that she actually liked me when just a short time ago she wanted nothing to do with me. I still found myself flinching whenever she raised a hand. Not that I was complaining, mind you.

When we came into the house, we found Stoick exactly where I left him, sitting at the table doing absolutely nothing. He looked up when we entered and his eyes widened when he saw Astrid, as if the thought hadn't occurred to him that I had friends and that they could follow me home.

"Oh, hey there son," he greeted me. "And uh…" He looked at Astrid, trying in vain to remember her name. My father wasn't very good with names.

"It's Astrid, Sir," she told him politely. He blinked at her.

"Oh, yes, I knew that," he muttered, looking back down at the table. Astrid and I glanced at each other before she gently nudged me forward.

"So, father," I started awkwardly. "Er, the village and I have been noticing that you're not your usually strong, proud self. We've been worried, especially me. I mean I know I'm not supposed to but, you are our chief after all and…" I received another nudge in the ribs from Astrid. Time to stop babbling.

Stoick looked at me and sighed. "There's nothing I can hide from you, is there son?" he asked me with a slight chuckle. "The truth is, I do have something I need to tell you. I've been trying to think of the right words to tell you though."

"Come on father," I smiled. "You can tell me anything. Whatever you have to tell me, I'm sure it's not too bad." Astrid agreed with me by nodding her head. Stoick gave a huge sigh, gathering himself up so he could look my strait in the eye (kind of hard to do when he was so huge and I was a little on the short side). And then he told me something that would make me eat my words.

"Hiccup," he growled rather gruffly. "You're getting married."

**I thought of this a few weeks ago. Hopefully it's not too terrible. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Did you have to be rushed to the hospital just looking at it? Tell me what you think. Read and review. Because if you don't then I can't write more, can I?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! I've been getting really good reviews so far! I'm glad you all like it! Of course it's an awkward situation. Why do you think Stoick was so hesitant about telling poor Hiccup? Today, we find out how this happened and who the delightful girl Hiccup has to marry is. And we all know Astrid's not going to just stand by and let this happen. And what will everyone else's reactions be to this news? What's Snotlout and Toothless going to say about all this? Well, we're just going to read and find out.**

**Chapter Two Hiccup**

"_I'll stand by you! I'll stand by you! Won't let nobody hurt you! I'll stand by you! Take me into your darkest hour! And I'll never desert you! I'll stand by you…"_

I stared in horror at my father, looking closely at his face in the greatest hope that he might be joking. But he looked very serious, and very regretful. So I was wrong. There was something he could say that could freak me out. For a whole minute, none of us spoke. I didn't even try looking at Astrid, pressed right beside me.

Eventually I managed to close my gaping mouth that I hadn't realized had been hanging open.

"Please tell me you're joking, father," I pleaded, hoping that this was really just some sick joke before he told me what the problem was really. But to my horror, he was shaking his head in dismay.

"I'm afraid not, Hiccup," he told me. "I wouldn't joke about something as serious as this."

"But come on!" I cried. "Marriage? I'm barely sixteen! I've barely even begun to understand females!"

"Lots of vikings marry young," Stoick reasoned in a somewhat defeated voice. "Especially viking chiefs. It's to ensure that the tribes stay strong." I couldn't believe I was hearing this. I still couldn't even bring myself to look at Astrid to see what her reaction was.

"And just when were you planning on telling me this?" I growled, unexpected anger starting to burn inside me. Instead of letting him answer, because I knew he wouldn't, I continued. "How did this even happen anyways?"

"There is a viking tribe," Stoick answered slowly, choosing his words carefully. "They call themselves the Skullhead Tribe. The Hooligans and the Skullheads have been in a bitter rivalry for as long as anyone can remember. One day, the chief of the Skullheads and I reached an agreement. Our children would marry and a truce would be forged between the two tribes. It was the only way we could get our tribes to stop fighting."

Now, I could see the sense in what my father said about marrying young. Vikings had a knack for dying at really young ages and it was a bigger priority for the chief of the tribe to produce an heir to replace him quickly before he or she died. But an _arranged marriage?_ It would have been bad enough being forcibly married to someone within my own tribe. But I have never even heard of the Skullheads! And all because they thought there was no other way to stop arguing? Over what? Who was the stubborn and ugliest Viking tribe? Even Stoick had gotten the honor of choosing who he got to marry!

But I couldn't bring myself to say any of this to my father's face. It was all I could do to look him in the eye. Sensing that I was about to argue with him, Stoick took a breath and glared down at me.

"Now Hiccup," he growled. "This is for yer own good. You haven't even met this girl yet. Who knows? You might find that you like her."

"Oh, I get to marry a female?" I growled angrily. "I thought you were just going to marry me off to some random creature too."

That crossed the line. Nobody spoke back like _that_ to Stoick the Vast, not even his own son. He stood up angrily and glared down at me, catching both of us in his gaze.

"I will not be spoken to like that," he snapped. "And my decision on this is final. As future chief, you need to start putting the tribe's needs ahead of your own. And I'm not happy about this any more than you are, if that means anything to you. It wasn't my idea."

Even though I had much more to say, I couldn't think of the words to express my outrage. I felt so helpless then and there. I was no longer in control of my own future. Once again, everyone wanted me to be something I didn't want to be.

_Don't kill dragons, Hiccup, _I thought angrily to myself as I turned and stormed out of the house with Astrid on my heels. _Kill the dragons, Hiccup. Get married, Hiccup! Do this, do that! Won't they ever make up their minds?_

I forced myself to slow down so Astrid could reach my side. She looked just as confused and annoyed as I was. I tried not to take a step away from her in case she decided to take her frustration out on me. We stood there in silence for a long moment before I felt that I could finally open my mouth without shouting.

"Well this must be one of the worst days in my life," I growled softly, trying to steady my breathing. "I can't believe he would do this to me!" I kicked at the ground. "And after all this time I had felt guilty for keeping Toothless a secret from him, he was keeping his own secrets."

"Maybe it won't be too bad for you," Astrid reasoned as calmly as she could. Her voice was shaking and she wouldn't look me in the eye. "Maybe she's beautiful and kind and maybe you two will get along greatly." I let out a long sigh.

"I don't care if she was the greatest person in the entire world!" I replied. "It's the fact that my father didn't even tell me until now that angers me. I hate that he didn't think that I would be able to take it. And I'm frustrated because no matter what this girl is like, she's not the one I want to spend the rest of my life with!"

I shut my mouth at that. I didn't mean to say that last part out loud. Astrid stopped and turned to me. I could see tears stuck in her eyes. Astrid was not someone who would cry. She found it as a sign of weakness and vulnerability.

I knew she already knew what I meant. I knew because she suddenly leaned forward and kissed me very deeply. My breath caught in my throat as she did. Her sadness was almost too overbearing. We could never be together now. Because my father had thought I was much better suited to someone I didn't know. And there was not much either of us could do about it. I was really surprised to know that she cared as deeply for me as I did for her.

I don't know how long we stood there with her lips pressed to mine. But eventually and very reluctantly she released me before taking two steps back and then turning on her heel and running off. I stared after her in surprise, unable to run after her. Or do anything else for that matter.

…

At first Toothless thought I was joking when I told him. But as I started to get through to him, he was almost upset as I was. He knew as much as I did how hard I had worked to get Astrid to at least like me. Only to be spoiled just like that. And he could feel my sadness and frustration. We had that sort of link where we would feel each other's thoughts and emotions.

Toothless still liked to sleep in the grotto where we had first became friends, but many a night he would sink into my room and lay beside me. It was hard for us to be apart ever since that day. He didn't stir when I woke the next morning and slipped on my clothes.

My first thoughts was that maybe the day before had been a dream. That it had just been a terrible nightmare. But I just couldn't bring myself to accept that. No matter how much I wanted it to be a dream; I knew that it had really happened. I could still feel where Astrid had kissed me.

Stoick was already at the table, eating his huge breakfast when I slowly came down the stairs in the same manner a condemned man would walk. He swallowed hard when he saw me and he put his utensils down gently.

"Er, mornin' Hiccup," he greeted awkwardly. I glared at him but refused to speak. I knew he could feel my anger flowing freely from me, but he continued anyways, as if he refused to receive my cold shoulder. "So the Skullheads are arriving today," he told me. "That's what the letter I had received was about. They told me they were looking forward to seeing the entire tribe."

I gritted my teeth in frustration but continued to stay silent. Figures! I wouldn't even get the chance to take all of this in or prepare myself before this girl arrived to change my life.

Stoick cleared his throat, indicating that he wasn't done. He didn't care if I didn't speak; he was going to make himself heard. "I know you're upset with me," he said carefully. "But I don't want you taking any of that out on the Skullheads. This is a very important day and you shall not ruin it. Understand?"

I forced myself to nod. I didn't dare look him in the eye. I could still remember when all I ever felt was the upmost respect for my father. But I didn't feel any of it now. I only felt betrayed.

At that moment we could hear a horn in the far distance, signaling the arrival of the rival viking tribe. Well, at least it wouldn't be for very long. I gave one last, seething glare at my father before turning and heading out the door. Toothless caught up with me in a matter of mere moments.

We headed down to the beach together. I kept one of my hands on his neck for support and guidance. I wasn't sure I would be able to do this by myself. It was hard enough to put one foot in front of the other to get down to the beach. I didn't know how I would be able to handle all of this.

We found almost the entire tribe already at the beach, a lot of them muttering amongst themselves. Toothless and I stayed at the edge of the crowd, trying not to be noticed. I really didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, not even to Astrid or Fishlegs. I was still mentally preparing myself.

Fishlegs came over to my side anyways and was about to say something, when a loud horn interrupted him. The crowd turned towards the ships and a huge group of vikings slowly started jumping from the sides and splashing in the waters towards us. They were all very muscular and tall, walking with proud strides. I could feel an uneasy tension in the air as the two tribes came face to face.

The crowds started parting and the Hooligans let my father walk through. He looked very proud and confident for one who had just told his son that he was being married whether he liked it or not. The chief of the Skullhead tribe came up to greet him, a young female at his side.

"Garlo the Gruesome," Stoick greeted gruffly. "It's an honor to see you again."

"I could say the same thing to you, old friend," the Skullhead chief replied, nodding. Garlo the Gruesome was not as gruesome as his name suggested. He was actually more hairy than anything else. Thick black hair seemed to curl out of every inch of his body and he had a beard that was able to match my father's.

The girl beside him who stood quietly I could safely guess was his daughter, and the girl I was supposed to marry. She had long, fair hair that she kept nice and straight. She was tall and thin, with soft blue eyes. Her ruby red lips was turned up in a polite smile.

"This is my daughter," Garlo explained, clasping a giant hand on the girl's shoulder. "Her name is Isabella the Beautiful." He looked down at his daughter affectionately. "She is as strong as she is beautiful."

"Wonderful," my father boomed happily. "I've heard much about you."

"Where's your son, Stoick?" Garlo asked, looking around slightly confused. "The one you've told me about, the Dragon Whisperer?"

I sank low to the ground to try to make myself not be seen. With any luck, Snotlout would step forward and volunteer himself and I wouldn't have to go through with this. But Stoick had already spun around to look for me and spotted Toothless.

"There he is," he told the rival chief. "By the Night Fury!"

**I have to apologize in advance. I've been coming down with something and I haven't been feeling quite myself. But I told myself that I was definitely posting a chapter today so here we are. Next time we'll find out just exactly what these people are like. And we'll definitely find out what everyone else's reactions will be. Because news travels fast on Berk. Too fast.**

**Anyways, the next chapter will probably (most definitely) be in Astrid's point of view. We're going to find out just how much Astrid cares for Hiccup, and what this new girl means. This is going to be fun. Read and review, otherwise I can't write. It's common sense.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Today, we learn more about the Skullheads (more specifically, Garlo and Isabella) and what Astrid thinks of the entire matter. I chose the name Isabella because it means beauty, and she's supposed to be beautiful. I couldn't think of a better name for her either.**

**I'm also really happy with the kissing scene I wrote. Maybe it's just me, but I was really disappointed with the kissing scene in the actual movie. All we saw was the back of Astrid's head. How boring is that? It's like, why bother putting it in there?**

**Disclaimer: I am not obsessed. Just because my sister and I watch the movie or the special every day proves absolutely nothing!**

**Chapter three Astrid**

"_I swear I'll do everything that I have to 'til I forget about you!"_

I stared in horror at the female that was to marry Hiccup. She was absolutely gorgeous! And she looked so nice and gentle, there was no doubt that people would say she was much better for Hiccup than I was. She was smiling pleasantly and happily greeting everyone who passed by. It made me sick.

Growling softly to myself, I stomped over to stand beside Hiccup. I was going to make sure that I did not approve of this and I wasn't going to just stand by and quietly do nothing. I wasn't built to be like that. I was a fighter.

Hiccup flinched as I pressed against his side and every eye fell on him. He had no choice but to make his way through the crowd to stand in front of the tribe with Toothless, Fishlegs and me following him. He didn't say anything to his father as he stood beside him, but instead looked up at Garlo the Gruesome with a steady eye.

Garlo gave him a once over and burst out laughing.

"So, that's your kid, is it, Stoick?" he howled. "I imagined him to be much bigger! And what in Thor's name happened to his leg?"

Hiccup grimaced. Mentioning his metal leg was not something to point out on a first meeting, and Hiccup still felt some sensitivity towards it. It made it harder for him to walk and ride Toothless.

"I lost it in an accident, Sir," he explained in a quiet, respectful voice.

"Did ya now?" Garlo asked, cocking a hairy eyebrow. "Well I say its good fer ya. It builds character. There's a lot about you than your small size let's on, huh?"

The girl (I think he said her name was Isabella?) didn't say anything at all. I didn't like the look she gave Hiccup. I had been hoping that she would have a look of disappointment when he stepped forward. But instead, her charming smile had widened and she wouldn't stop staring at him. I didn't like her. She was too nice, too perfect.

"Stoick," Baggybum, Stoick's brother called, stepping forward. "What are the Skullheads doing here anyways? They don't seem to be here to raid us or anything."

I had forgotten that Stoick hadn't told the rest of the village about this meeting. Only Hiccup and I had heard what Stoick had said, so it was only natural that the rest of the tribe was curious. And now Stoick couldn't avoid them anymore. It served him right.

Stoick turned to his brother a bit nervously. "They are here because we are going to work out peace negotiations. We have decided that we have been fighting for long enough and that we should join forces."

"Exactly," Garlo added with a nod and a huge grin. "That, and Stoick here agreed to have his son marry my beautiful daughter here."

Both Hiccup and I flinched as the Hooligans gasped and turned to him. Whatever they had been expecting, it wasn't that. I forced myself to look at the reactions of our friends. Fishlegs stood beside Hiccup with his mouth agape, not quite sure how to react. The twins, Ruffnutt and Tuffnutt, looked at each other uncertainly, wondering if this hairy man was telling the truth. And Snotlout looked like he was about to burst out laughing. I hated him for that.

The Skullhead tribe made no reaction whatsoever. Obviously their chief had been kind enough to inform them before hand of what was to happen instead of dumping this harsh news on them at the last possible second.

I pulled myself away from Snotlout's laughing face and turned back to the conversation before me as the rest of the tribe started muttering amongst themselves. Stoick was telling Garlo that he was more than happy to let the family stay at their house. I didn't like the idea of that girl being in the same house as Hiccup, but I held my tongue… for the moment.

"Why don't we go catch up on old times and let these two get to know each other?" Garlo suggested, gesturing at Hiccup and Isabella.

"Good idea," Stoick replied, casting an uncertain glance at his son. He turned to the rest of the tribe. "The rest of you can carry on. And make sure to help the Skullheads feel at home."

Then he and the Skullhead chief headed up the hill as the two tribes started greeting each other. I stayed by Hiccup's side, who had been staring miserably at the ground the entire time, not looking anyone in the eye.

"You must be Hiccup," Isabella said suddenly to him in the most beautiful, gentle voice that I had ever heard. I wanted to slap her just for speaking. "I'm sorry if our sudden arrival upset your tribe. It was my father's idea to do this, but I hope we'll be able to get along!"

Her politeness made me want to kill something. There was no way a Viking could ever be that polite. I stepped forward to come face to face with her. I was determined to show her that she was no friend of mine.

"Oh I'm sure you will," I growled. "Because it's so easy to just ruin people's lives and then act as if nothing is happening, hoping you can be friends. Well that's not what it's like in the real world, girl."

She stared at me in surprise with wide innocent like eyes. She turned to Hiccup. "Who is this?" she asked in a shy tone of voice that made me want to vomit.

Hiccup glanced at me before finally forcing his eyes on her. "This is Astrid," he told her. "She was – um, is my girlfriend."

Isabella blinked in astonishment. "Oh! I had no idea!" she turned to me apologetically. "I'm so sorry. This must be really hard for you! I hate to think that I'm coming between you two."

"Oh I'll bet you are," I snapped angrily, taking a threatening step forward.

"Astrid, please," Hiccup pleaded in a quiet voice. I continued to glare at the girl and hardly took any notice of him. I could have easily stared her down, but at that moment, Snotlout, Tuffnutt and Ruffnutt decided to join the discussion.

"So," Snotlout jeered throwing an arm around Hiccup's scrawny shoulders. "It looks like I was right. The only way you could've ever been possibly married is through an arranged marriage!" He looked at Isabella and gave her an apologetic look. "I'm very sorry that you're the one who will have to be seen with him. I feel horrible that you have to put up with this."

"Shut up, Snotlout," I growled, glaring angrily at him. He gave me a charming smile.

"Oh come now, babe," he said smoothly. "Look on the bright side! Now you have a chance to finally date me!" That earned him a punch in the face.

"I apologize that we've been causing so much trouble," Isabella told us with wide, sad eyes. "I was just as confused as you when my father first told me. Although it made me feel better since I didn't have to worry about my future." A brainless slave. Of course she wouldn't want to have to make any decisions for herself. Feh. "Of course, it'll be a lot better once we get to know each other." She took a step forward and spoke in a soft voice so that only Hiccup and I could hear her. "Who knows? Maybe we might even fall in love."

Hiccup tried not to flinch as I bared my teeth at her. How dare she imply that! It enraged me how she just carelessly tossed around that word, especially since I was standing right there! I think she was trying to make me hate her. She was constantly reminding me how she would have Hiccup and not me. And she barely even knew him. I wanted to hit her so badly.

I could see that this girl was really getting to Hiccup because he quickly excused himself, muttering how he had this thing that he forgot to do. Toothless and Fishlegs slowly followed after him and I glared at the others until they awkwardly excused themselves as well. I wanted so desperately to run after Hiccup to help comfort him. But I couldn't. Not yet. I had business to attend to.

I turned to Isabella who had dropped her sweet façade and was giving me an ugly sneer, looking quite triumphant. I glared at her with all the hatred in my heart.

"Oh he's perfect, don't you think?" she asked me with a snide voice. "I can tell what you saw in him. I can tell he's submissive, isn't he? And you know what? Knowing that I'm taking him from the likes of you just makes it that much sweeter."

I just barely managed to stop myself from attacking her. "You think I'm just going to let this happen?" I hissed. "Well you're wrong. I'm not giving him up to the likes of you without a fight."

"Oh grow up, Astrid," she sneered. "You should know that law and tradition trumps your stupid feelings any day. And besides, I always get what I want."

"Well maybe someone should give you what you need," I growled. "And what you need is a good kick in the pants." I took another step towards her, raising my fist.

"How barbaric of you to resort to physical violence," she sighed, sticking her tongue out. "How typical. It's a good thing Hiccup won't be marrying you. And if I were you, I'd consider going out with that Snotlout character because I'm going to make sure he never looks at you the same way again."

That did it. I took a step forward and slapped her hard across the face. She stumbled back with a horrified gasp as I glowered at her, breathing hard. Her pretty face melted away as she glared furiously at me.

"HOW DARE YOU STRIKE ME!" she screamed, holding her stinging cheek. I smirked. Man that felt good. "You'll pay for this," she growled. "Nobody hits me and gets away with it! You'll see! I would say that Hiccup will be mine," she sneered. "But let's face it, he already is. And there's nothing you can do about it, so ha!"

I took another threatening step towards her and she shrunk back. There was no way I was letting her have the last word.

"Oh you'll see," I hissed at her. "I don't give up so easily. You're going to regret ever stepping onto this beach."

"We'll see about that," she replied haughtily.

"Yeah, we'll see," I growled.

"I already said that."

"I also said it!" I turned on my heel and stormed back up at the beach. There was no way I was going to let her get away with this. By the time I was done with her, she would regret even being born. The fight was on. She had brought out my inner dragon. This meant war.

**And we'll stop right there. I am very pleased with how this is turning out. I'm really happy with how many reviews this is getting. It makes me so happy to know how you guys love this story so far. And it's only a few chapters long so far! I hope I can continue to meet your expectations! Next time I think it's going to go back to Hiccup's view point. We need to know what he thinks of this girl and how she acts when they're alone. And fortunately I don't have many classes for the rest of the week so…**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm so happy with how much you guys love this fan fiction! It's only been up a couple of days and already it's one of my most popular fan fictions that I've written! I love you guys! (But not really.) And just so you know, yes, I do take the time to answer most of your reviews. I like to keep in touch like that. It also lets my readers know that I'm listening.**

**Anyways, I've gotten over most of my cold, so that's good. Last time we met Isabella and learned what a horror she was. A lot of you wanted to punch her in the face. I would too. Today, we'll see what Hiccup thinks about her and what other insanities I can think of. This is for you, my loyal readers.**

**Disclaimer: I am not obsessed! Okay, so I've been writing two fan fictions on the movie and I'm planning at least two more, but you can't prove anything!**

**Chapter Four Hiccup**

"_You say good-bye, and I say hello! Hello! Hello! I don't know why you say good-bye, I say hello!"_

I was hoping, as I walked away from that girl, that the others would leave me alone so I could gather my thoughts. But of course that wasn't possible. Fishlegs was right beside me constantly asking me why I didn't tell him this sooner. Snotlout trailed behind me, wondering how I "always got the girl." Tuffnutt and Ruffnutt were making a bet on whether or not we would really fall in love or not. It was very hard to ignore them because they all talked at once and in loud voices.

"Hey guys," I said eventually, stopping abruptly. "Do you think you could leave me alone for a while? I want to figure this out myself."

The others stared at me for a moment before they all mumbled something and slumped away. Only Toothless remained by my side, protectively. I was grateful for his company. I watched the others leave and I let out a long sigh.

I wanted to believe that everything would be okay. I really wanted to think that this was some horrible prank my father was pulling on me. I wanted to hope that I would be perfectly happy with this Isabella. But I couldn't. Somehow I just couldn't see myself ever being happy without Astrid. Sure, she was widely aggressive. Ok, she could be a little extreme at times with her emotions towards me. And yes, it took me forever for me to get her to start talking to me. And she would still punch me from time to time. But I didn't care. In fact, those were some of the things that I loved about her. I couldn't see myself being happy with any other girl.

"_There's something about that girl that I don't like," _Toothless said after a long moment.

"_You too, huh?" _I asked with a sigh, leaning against his side. _"What am I supposed to do, Toothless? I can't run away, but I don't want to go through with this."_

"_You seemed fine with running away when you were keeping me a secret," _Toothless pointed out.

"_That was different," _I told him, closing my eyes. _"It was to protect you and the other dragons. If I run away now, it may cause more problems for everyone in Berk. This is supposed to be for the good of the tribe. I can't run away."_

"_Okay, I get it," _Toothless growled. "_Then what do we do?"_

"_I don't know."_

We both sighed and slumped to the ground. I was starting to think that there really was nothing we could do. I was just supposed to shut up and let my father decide my life for me. Again. I opened my eyes. No. I wasn't going to let him control my life. Not this time.

I needed to talk to Isabella and get her on my side. I was sure that she didn't want to go through with this any more than I did. Maybe she, Astrid and I could figure a way out of this. We could convince our tribes that this was not the way to settle our differences (although it was better than fighting all the time). But I had just gotten Astrid to like me. I wasn't going to let that be ruined.

"_Come on, Toothless,"_ I told my dragon. _"We're going to try and fix this."_

"_That's more like it," _Toothless replied, grinning. "_I knew there was no way you would give up so easily! So what's the plan anyways?"_

"_You and I are going to talk to Isabella and see if we can't get her to help us," _I explained. _"We can convince our tribes that this isn't right and there has to be some other way that they can make peace. With all of us working together, I'm sure we can come up with a plan."_

"_Good idea," _Toothless nodded. "_And if that doesn't work, I can always just eat them!"_

"_No."_

We found Isabella in a field of flowers, brushing her hair and singing softly to herself. The smell of the flowers were intoxicating, and I had to pause a moment to stop my head from spinning. Then I took a step forward and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She looked up, startled, and then smiled softly when she saw that it was only me.

"Hi, Hiccup!" she greeted. "I was just about to go look for you! What can I help you with?"

"Well Toothless and I were kind of hoping you could talk to your dad," I told her, rubbing the back of my neck. "We feel that there has to be another way to bring peace between our two tribes, and I'm sure you want to pick who you get to marry just as much as I do. I think if we combine forces we'll be able to fix this."

She stared at me wide eyed for a long time, before standing and giving me a pleasant smile.

"Of course, Hiccup," she replied sweetly. "I'd be happy to talk to my father. I'm sure he'll understand. And I wouldn't want to do anything to get between you and Astrid." When she spoke of Astrid, her expression darkened slightly, but I shrugged it off. I smiled and sighed with relief.

"Thanks, Isabella," I told her, giving her a quick hug. "You don't know how much this means to me!"

"Of course," she giggled. "In fact, I'll talk to him right now!"

She brushed herself off and started down the hill towards where the Skullheads were staying. I stared after her for a long moment before turning back to Toothless.

"_That was kind of her," _I told him. _"I was afraid she wouldn't go through with it."_

"_I guess she's not as bad as I thought," _Toothless agreed, nodding slightly. _"Now what do we do?"_

"_Now we wait and hope," _I replied. "_Let's go tell Astrid. I'm sure she'll want to know about this too."_

We found Astrid storming up the beach towards her own house. She looked terribly upset and I was half tempted to just leave and wait until she was less upset. But I really wanted to comfort her in some way. I turned to Toothless, unsure.

"_Maybe we should wait until Isabella has actually talked to her father," _I suggested. _"I'd hate to get her hopes up for nothing. And she really looks like she doesn't want to talk right now."_

"_I wouldn't be too sure on that," _Toothless replied, nodding in Astrid's direction. I turned around to see that she had spotted us and was making her way towards us, her expression warning me that I would be killed if I tried to run. I stood nervously until she was right in front of me and took a deep breath.

"Hey Astrid," I greeted her nervously. "What's wrong?"

"What makes you think that anything's wrong?" Astrid snapped at me. I flinched.

"Because the last time you glared like that, I was just declared the winner of dragon training," I told as gently as I could, taking a nervous step back in case she decided to attack me. But instead she let out a long sigh.

"It's your new fiancé," she growled. "She was practically threatening me a while back. And rubbing in my face that she would be marrying you."

"Isabella?" I asked. That couldn't be possible! She was so sweet and willing to help us. "Are you sure? She doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do that."

"Like you would know," Astrid snapped. "Of course she wants you to think that! That's part of her charade! To get everyone on her side. Trust me Hiccup; she's nothing but a witch."

"Are you sure that's not just paranoid jealousy talking?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. She glared at me.

"I'm not paranoid!" she hissed. "And I'm definitely not jealous! Why would I make the whole thing up unless I was telling the truth?" I had to admit that Astrid was not one for lying. But it just seemed so unlikely that Isabella would do something horrible. She even agreed to talk to her father for us.

"Astrid, she's not a bad person," I reasoned gently. "She even agreed to help us out of this." Her eyes widened with surprise for half a second, and then she was frowning again.

"That's probably so you'll like her more easily," she argued. "She wants to look like she's on your side and she really wants you to be free from all of this when in fact it's just all part of her plan."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I'm sorry Astrid," I sighed. "But I'm having trouble believing you." But deep down, I _wanted_ to believe her. I _wanted_ to believe that Isabella wasn't all she seemed and it would open my father's eyes that this was all wrong. But I just couldn't believe that what Astrid was saying was true.

"Fine," Astrid snapped. "But when it turns out that I was right, I won't be here to tell you 'I told you so.'" Then she turned on her heel and stomped back up the hill towards her house, not looking back with her nose in the air. I stared after her helplessly. Toothless blinked and turned to me.

"_Well that couldn't have gone any better," _he said sarcastically.

"_Maybe I shouldn't have said that," _I sighed. _"How am I supposed to fix things with her if she doesn't think I trust her?"_

"_I'm no expert," _Toothless replied. "_But apologizing would be a good start. But not right now," _he added, staring up the hill after Astrid. "_Give her some time to cool off. Then go talk to her."_

"_Thanks, Toothless," _I told him, smiling slightly.

"_Anytime, Hiccup."_

**I'm gonna stop right there because honestly, I'm not sure where to go from there in this chapter. Instead, we'll pick up again in the next chapter and we'll go back to Astrid's view point. Could she be right? Is Isabella really plotting her downfall? Of course she is!**

**Now, the good news is that my classes are all finished, which means I'll have more time to update. The bad news is that I'll mostly be updating a different fan fiction called Super Smash Bros Christmas Carol. I started it last year, but I haven't worked on it for a long time now. I'll try to update this one too, but I'll mostly be working on my Christmas Carol.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Due to the huge popularity of this story and the nagging of some of my viewers, I've decided to continue on with next chapter now. Besides, I'm kind of in that How to Train your Dragon kind of funk, so my mind is just wrapped around this fan fiction. And just to answer some of your unasked questions; of course there's going to be a cat fight! Astrid is too strong, proud, and independent to let someone else take her man without a fight!**

**Anyways, today's chapter is in her point of view. We get to see what she and the other Vikings think of the entire thing. So sit back, sip some hot cocoa and enjoy this fan fiction that you all seem to have nothing better to do than be obsessed with.**

**Disclaimer: Hey! Did you know they're planning a sequel? And a TV series? Man, that's going to be so awesome! … Wait, wasn't I supposed to be writing a disclaimer or something?**

**Chapter 5 Astrid**

"_You need to give it up, had about enough. It's not hard to see, the boy is mine. I'm sorry that you seem to be confused. He belongs to me. The boy is mine."_

I stormed up the hill in a huff. How could Hiccup believe that lying little brat over me? Anyone could put on an innocent act and make everyone like them! Why would Hiccup not believe me? I wasn't paranoid! And I knew there was no way that little brat was just going to stand aside and let Hiccup be free to choose me over her. I knew she had a plan up her sleeve, and I was going to stop it. But I couldn't do it alone, that much was certain.

I found Ruffnutt sitting on a stump some way above the village, sitting by a fire and arguing with her brother. I didn't pay much attention to what they were arguing about because I couldn't care less. I sat down beside her and waited for them to stop long enough to notice me. Unfortunately, when the twins argued, they could go on for days, so I turned to Tuffnutt.

"Excuse me, Tuffnutt," I greeted him. "But can I talk to Ruffnutt in private?" He looked at me in some bewilderment, as if he just realized I was there and was horrified that someone dared step in the middle of an argument with his sister. But he just mumbled, "Yeah, sure," and shuffled away. I turned to Ruffnutt. "Sorry about interrupting," I apologized.

"Eh, we both knew I was winning anyways," she replied with a shrug. "So, what's wrong?"

"Who said something was wrong?" I asked her defensively.

"How long have we known each other?" Ruffnutt responded, cocking an eyebrow. "Some tribe just came and their leader's daughter just took your boyfriend and we've never even met these people! Of course there's something wrong!"

"Well you just summed it up pretty good right there," I told her with a deep sigh. "I guess it could be worse. I mean, she really could be perfect that makes Hiccup fall in love with her."

"Isn't she already?" Ruffnutt asked. I snarled.

"Of course not!" I growled. "She's just pretending to be nice and innocent so everyone will like her and not feel bad about this entire thing." As Ruffnutt opened her mouth to speak, I quickly defended myself. "I'm not being paranoid," I told her. "The little witch told me this herself."

"I get it," Ruffnutt replied. "So what are you planning on doing about it?"

"Well Hiccup didn't believe me when I told him what she told me," I explained. "So I need your help to sabotage her until she reveals her true self. Or make Hiccup realize that she's not perfect. Whichever comes first."

"And how are we going to do that?" Ruffnutt asked, her eyes wide with excitement. Whenever she was given a challenge, or an opportunity to embarrass someone, she never backed down. That's what made her such a valuable ally.

I looked around to make sure nobody was watching. Then I leaned forward, speaking in a low voice.

"Okay, we need a plan to get rid of this freak," I told her softly. Ruffnutt smiled sneakily.

"I think I know who can come up with a perfect plan," she said in an ominous voice.

…

"And so that's why you come to me, huh?" Snotlout asked, sitting cross legged on his bed and looking down at Ruffnutt and me as we sat in front of him.

"That's right," I replied, glaring slightly at Ruffnutt. If she had told me that we would be going to Snotlout for help, I would have thought of a plan myself. She didn't look me in the eye. "We need your help, Snotlout. There's no way I'm going to lose Hiccup to that spoiled little daddy's girl!"

"And you're an expert on angering people," Ruffnutt added. "We need to team up to make her snap until everyone sees what she's really like."

"But why do you want my help?" Snotlout asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Because nobody would expect you to help," I replied. "Everybody knows you and Hiccup don't like each other. So no one will ever think that you might be up to something."

"All you have to do is flirt with her a lot and show people that she might not be right for our future chief," Ruffnutt explained. "And we'll do the angering. It's simple."

Snotlout thought for a long moment, nodding in agreement to our statements. I held my breath as he considered our idea. Finally, he smiled and looked at us, rubbing his chin.

"Ok, I'll do it," he told us. We smiled and high-fived, but he wasn't finished. "On one condition." Our faces fell and we exchanged glances. I let out a sigh.

"What do you want?" I asked, trying not to add venom in my voice.

"Ruffnutt has to go on a date with me when we succeed," Snotlout ordered. Ruffnutt glared at him and opened her mouth to decline, but I covered her mouth in desperation.

"Of course she'll do it," I told him for her. She turned to glare at me.

"No, I won't!" she snapped in a low voice.

"Come on, Ruffnutt, please?" I pleaded. "Do it for me!" She let out a long sigh, still glaring.

"You're lucky you're my friend," She growled at me under her breath. "Fine, I'll do it," she told Snotlout in a louder voice, trying not to sound too angry.

"Sweet," Snotlout replied happily, as if he was excited and surprised that Ruffnutt had agreed so easily. Snotlout had this thing where he would hit on any female around his age, especially after I had started dating Hiccup. He liked to think of himself as a "ladies' man."

"Thanks, Snotlout," I sighed as we stood to leave. "I definitely owe you one."

"Just don't forget about our date," Snotlout replied, addressing Ruffnutt.

"Yeah, whatever," she growled under her breath.

We left his house feeling much more confident. Hopefully this was going to work out. No, it was going to work out. I would make it work. There was no way I was going to let Isabella win. Because I was not a loser, I was a winner.

"So what's our next move?" Ruffnutt asked me as we headed towards my house.

"We need to find the perfect opportunity to put our plan into action," I told her thoughtfully. "If we just start tormenting her, people will know something is up and we'll look like the bad guys."

"Right," Ruffnutt agreed. "We have to make it look like we haven't been doing anything wrong and that she's the witch."

It really made me feel great that Ruffnutt put such faith in my words. I had no proof other than my own ears and eyes that Isabella was an evil girl, but Ruffnutt believed me. I just wish that Hiccup had as much confidence in me as she did. I reminded myself that I couldn't forgive him so easily once I proved that I was right. But there was still no way I was letting him go.

"Do you think we should let Fishlegs and Tuffnutt in on the plan?" Ruffnutt asked, cutting into my thoughts. I shook my head.

"Nah," I replied. "The less people who know, the better. One of them might slip and accidently tell Stoick or someone else important." Ruffnutt nodded in agreement.

"Do you mind if I stay out in your house for a while?" she asked suddenly. "Tuffnutt snores like an elephant and I feel like if I stay one more night in my own room I'm going to suffocate him with his own pillow."

I let out a laugh. "Sure, you can stay," I replied, opening the door to my room. "We can figure out what we're going to do with Isabella in the mean time."

"Good idea."

We stayed up half the night talking. We fantasized about how we could get Isabella near a cliff long enough for one of us to push her off. We talked a long time about what we could do to show her true nature. By morning, we were fast asleep, but fully prepared for what lay ahead.

**I know Astrid's chapters aren't very long, but I have trouble thinking up stuff. Anyways, next we're switching back to Hiccup's view point because I do a lot better writing in his view point. Astrid is looking for a fight and she's got Ruffnutt to back her up! Will Isabella meet her challenge? Will she succeed in taking Hiccup away from her and succeed in splitting up one of the most awesome pairings ever?**

**Anyways, my brother's birthday is the day before Christmas Eve. We're going to surprise him with tickets to a hockey game and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Buffalo. It sucks that his birthday is so near Christmas, but hey, what are you going to do? I'm also going up to Buffalo tomorrow to see an exhibit with my father and a friend of mine. And then dinner at Shish Kabab! I'm so excited! See you next year! (Unless you read one of my other fan fictions, I'm not updating this one again until after Christmas.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hurray for the New Year! My resolution is to write more and work less! Well, as promised, here is the next chapter of How to escape a marriage. It's in Hiccup's view point and things take a turn for the worse for him today. What's going to happen? Read and find out.**

**Disclaimer: So what if I own the movie, the special, the soundtrack, the game, and am writing too many fan fictions about How to Train Your Dragon? I'm still not obsessed!**

**Chapter 6 Hiccup**

"_You belong to me, my Snow White Queen! There's nowhere to run, so let's just get it over. Soon I know you'll see you're just like me! Don't scream anymore my love, 'cause all I want is you!"_

I sat in my house trying to sort things out in my head with Toothless sitting right beside me. There was no way Skullheads were going to spend their nights on the beach, so Stoick offered them our own homes for shelter. Obviously the Chief of the Tribe and his family was staying with us.

I still refused to talk to my father. No matter how this turned out, I wasn't going to forgive him so easily (especially since he hasn't even begun trying to apologizing to me). I made it a point to glare accusingly at him whenever we were in the same room (which was never very long, I could barely stand being in the same room as him any more). He came into my room now, looking terribly awkward and pointedly looked away from him.

"So, the Skullheads are getting comfortable down stairs," he told me, rubbing the back of his neck. "They really seem to like the place." I didn't say anything, but simply narrowed my eyes at the wall. "Er, I told Isabella that she was more than welcome to use the room right next to yours, if that's ok."

Glaring at him, I slid off my bed and stood up. Still refusing to say anything to him, I stormed out of my room with Toothless right behind me. I still couldn't stand how Stoick would act like there was absolutely nothing wrong. I tried to ignore the hurt in his eyes when I refused to acknowledge his presence, but it was hard not to feel hurt by all of this.

As I walked out of the house and down the hill, I almost ran into Isabella, who was coming from the beach and looking rather sad. I stopped and looked at her.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh Hiccup," she sobbed. "I tried so hard to make my father change his mind about the wedding, but he wouldn't listen! My pleas fell upon deaf ears and he refused to stop this injustice. I tried, I really did, but to no avail! Oh Hiccup, I'm so sorry!"

Toothless and I stared at her in shock. What could we possible do now? As far as I could see, that was our only hope! We were slowly running out of options.

"It's ok," I tried to comfort her. "Toothless and I know you tried your best. It's not your fault. We're just going to have to think of something else."

"But what can we do?" Isabella asked, looking up from her hands which she had been sobbing into. "The only thing my pleading seemed to do was make my father move our wedding to a closer date!"

I stared wide-eyed at her as she said this. I could still barely believe this was really happening. I barely knew what to do anymore.

"_There must be something else we can do," _Toothless insisted in my ear. Was there? I wasn't quite sure anymore. Out of all the Vikings, I was the one who usually came up with the plans, including the one that ended the long war with the dragons. But I couldn't think of anything. Nothing that would get our fathers to change their minds at least.

"You know," Isabella said suddenly through her tears. "It's probably for the best anyways."

I looked up at her and blinked. "What are you talking about?" I asked her.

"You're doing all of this for Astrid, right?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "Well how are you so sure you would be happy with her anyways? She's kind of mean and cold, and when we were talking down at the beach she was threatening me for no good reason."

Toothless and I exchanged glances and I knew we shared the same thought. There was no way Astrid would ever threaten someone unless she had a good reason. And Astrid was just telling me how Isabella had been threatening her. Who was I supposed to believe now?

"Are you sure she was threatening you?" I asked her. "Because that doesn't sound like Astrid at all."

"Doesn't it?" she asked a tad bitterly. "Didn't you notice how she was glaring at me when we first met? I hadn't done anything wrong or even said anything, but there she was, glaring angrily at me as if she owned you or something."

Was she? I tried to remember back to that moment, to when our fathers were talking and the two tribes had met. But I had been staring at the ground the entire time, trying not look at anyone, especially Astrid. I shook my head. I still had a hard time believing this girl. After all, we had only known each other for a few days. I shook my head.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?" I asked. "Besides, you don't even know Astrid."

"I know enough to know that she isn't right for you," the girl replied matter-of-factly. "I just don't want you to miserable, Hiccup."

I never thought about my relationship with Astrid until this point. Before the whole dragon incident, she refused to even speak to me (which I suppose was better than everyone else, who preferred to tease me mercilessly). I was never her favorite person and I remember she hated me during dragon training. But that was before. We weren't like that now. Now we actually respected each other and she actually liked me.

I tried to open my mouth to tell Isabella this, but found that I couldn't. Mostly because she was kissing me full on the lips. I tried to take a step back in surprise, but found myself trapped between her and Toothless. I managed to grab her shoulders and push her away from me with a gasp of breath.

"What did you do that for?" I asked with shock. She shrugged, giggling and batting her eyelashes.

"I don't know," she replied. "I just think you're really cute." She took a step closer. "Come on, Hiccup. I appreciate you way more than Astrid ever did or will."

I took a nervous step back, thankful that Toothless had the sense to move this time. "I don't know," I replied, holding up my hands. "I just need time to figure things out." Toothless stood back so I could escape her and we turned and hurried away, with Isabella staring after us.

I made directly for Astrid's house, making sure to stay out of Isabella's line of sight. She answered the door almost as soon as I knocked. She didn't look too happy to see me; I guessed she was still upset with me. I smiled nervously at her and she merely frowned.

"What do you want, Hiccup?" she asked me shortly. I sighed.

"I'm sorry," I told her immediately. "I should have believed you. That's what people do in a relationship, they trust each other. Sometimes I feel like you deserve better than me, and you do. But I want you to know that from now on, I'll believe whatever you say." I took a breath before continuing. "And there's no way I'd ever give you up for that Isabella," I added shyly. "Not in a hundred years."

Astrid smiled at that. Before I could say anything else she leaned forward and kissed me deeply. I was surprised to feel a tear fall on my cheek and I realized that they were coming from Astrid. I'm not sure how long we stood there with her kissing me, but I didn't mind. I liked the feeling of her lips pressed against mine. I didn't want reality to set back in. Not yet anyways.

"Does that mean you forgive me?" I asked when she finally let go and took a step back. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course you idiot," she replied with a slight growl. She let out a sad sigh. "But what are we going to do now? What will people say if they think we're still together?"

I thought for a moment. An idea sparked in my mind. "We could meet at night," I suggested. "When everyone else is asleep. I don't think I can fall asleep knowing Isabella is right next door. It can just be you, me, and Toothless."

"Toothless?" Astrid asked, cocking an eyebrow and looking at the dragon that stood behind me. I glanced at him and he blinked at me.

"Yeah," I sighed. "He won't let me go anywhere without him anymore. Apparently I'll get myself killed if he's not around."

"_I'm totally justified," _Toothless argued with a snort. "_Do you know how many times you've almost gotten yourself killed? You're lucky to be alive!"_

Astrid laughed. She couldn't understand Toothless, but she could guess what he had said from the look on his face. "I always did like breaking rules," she told me. "There's no way I'm letting these Skullheads get the better of me. We're going to get out of this mess if I any say in it. And lucky for you, I do."

I smiled at her. "Tomorrow night then," I replied. "We'll figure something out."

"I can't wait."

**I'd like to thank CrystalIceFire for coming up with the idea that the two of them should meet in secret. I added Toothless in there so they can have nightly flights. It's like Romeo and Juliet, except they're from the same tribe! How fun! And I know Astrid already came up with a plan with Ruffnutt, but she didn't tell Hiccup because she didn't want to get his hopes up in case the plan doesn't work. Also, there's nothing wrong with coming up with more than one plan, right?**

**I hope you all had a great holiday! I got the How to Train your Dragon soundtrack for Christmas, and we listen to it all the time! Classes are going to be starting again soon, but that hasn't stopped me before! Remember, until then, read and review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**OK, update time! Honestly, I really don't have much to say, other than thanks for all of the reviews! They make my day!**

**Disclaimer: I am not in denial. I am not writing seven How to Train Your Dragon fan fictions as we speak! Ok, so I am, but you can't prove it!**

**Chapter 7 Astrid**

"_Tonight we'll change our lives. It's so good to be by your side. We'll cry! We won't give up the fight! We'll scream out at the top of our lungs, and they'll think it's cuz we're young. We'll feel so alive!"_

I couldn't help smiling for the entire day. So Hiccup still loved me! And he wouldn't be easily sucked in by Isabella's shallowness. If my idea went according to plan, then everything was going to turn out ok. And then I could rub Bella's big fat face in it. My heart still pounded when I thought about how he told me that he still trusted me. I never remember ever feeling this way about any other guy. There was no way I was going to let Isabella win.

Time seemed to slow down as I waited for nightfall. We had agreed not to tell anybody, of course, not even our friends. When Ruffnutt had asked what I was so cheerful about, I simply replied that I couldn't wait for our plan to work. I had a hard time trying not to look too pleased when I saw Isabella; there was no way I was going to let her find out that Hiccup and I were not about to give up.

Snotlout, for his part, was being brilliant in flirting with the little witch. I was extremely pleased to look upon her annoyed face and see her beautiful features melt away. She tried hard to remain polite to Snotlout, gently declining his advances, but I could tell it was hard for her. Snotlout was intolerable.

When I entered the mess hall for lunch, I saw that Fishlegs and Toothless were arguing about something, though I wasn't sure what. I walked over and sat down near them, close enough to hear their conversation without interrupting.

"And there's no way you could fit in the hall anyways," Fishlegs was saying, pointing a finger at the dragon. Toothless snorted angrily. "Right, Hiccup?" Fishlegs added, turning to his friend. "There's no way a dragon can be your best man, right? Therefore I should be your best man, right?"

"I'm not doing this," Hiccup replied with a sigh, waving a hand in the air in a dismissive manner. I scowled slightly at my plate. There wasn't going to be a wedding if I could help it. As I continued eating, Snotlout came over and sat down next to me.

"She's putty in my hands," he snickered, indicating Isabella. I cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm sure she is," I replied. "But don't talk in such a loud voice. I don't want anyone knowing about our plan." I glanced around and was relieved to find that nobody was paying attention to us. Sighing, I turned back to Snotlout. "Keep up the good work," I told him in a low voice. No matter how this went, it was going to end badly for her. I would make sure of that.

…

I lay in my bed for a while, listening to the gentle snoring of my dragon, Spikestorm. She lay beside my bed in peaceful slumber, while the rest of my family also drifted off. The family of Skullheads downstairs snored louder than my dragon. Perfect. Nobody would hear me sneak out.

I lay there, staring at the ceiling and started counting to fifty. To make sure everyone was asleep, just like Hiccup told me. It seemed forever before I finally hit fifty and I almost leaped out of bed. Slipping on something quick, I stepped around my sleeping dragon and out the door of my room. I crept down the hall, careful not to step on any of the floorboards that would give me away. Finally, I held my breath as I proceeded towards the front door, the snoring Skullheads serving as obstacles to freedom.

As I got outside, I breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing could stop me now. I hurried up the hill towards Raven Point, the place where Hiccup had agreed to meet me. It was a special place, he had told me. That was where he and Toothless had spent most of their days when the war of the dragons was still going on. I remembered the cove well.

Hiccup and Toothless were already there when I arrived. Hiccup was leaning against the dragon, his eyes closed as if he was asleep. But when he heard me coming, his eyes snapped right open, and he smiled at me.

"Sorry I'm late," I apologized. "I couldn't think of an excuse to leave so I had to wait for everyone to fall asleep."

"My father knows I'm still mad at him, so he tries to keep his distance," Hiccup told me, nodding. "He probably figured that I needed to clear my head or something."

I sighed and leaned against Toothless next to him, closing my eyes. "I hate having to do this," I growled. "Running around and pretending that everything is perfectly fine and only loving each other at night."

Hiccup's eyes widened with surprise at the mention of love, like he hadn't considered that we could ever possibly be in love at such a young age. I smiled at his expression and turned away to see Toothless turn his head and give me a wink.

"I guess it's not entirely my father's fault," Hiccup told me with a sigh. "I mean, he's just trying to do what's best for the tribe. I don't feel betrayed because of that. I just wish he could have told me sooner, you know? It's just so hard and confusing."

"You know he doesn't want you to be miserable," I pointed out. "If anything, I think he's the most hurt by all of this. Seeing his own son not in charge of his own future. It must be painful."

"I know," Hiccup replied with another sigh. "I guess he doesn't deserve it when he only wants what's best." Toothless said something I couldn't understand because I couldn't speak Dragonese. Hiccup nodded. "I know I should forgive him, Toothless. But I just can't. Not yet."

I punched him playfully in the arm, trying to get his mind off of the situation. "So are we going to do this thing, or what?" I asked him, trying to put on a gentle smile. He blinked at me before smiling.

"Sure," he replied. Toothless crouched down so Hiccup could climb on and he held his hand out for me. I gratefully took it and climbed up after him. Toothless immediately leaped up into the air and soared into the sky.

It was a cloudless night so the sky was glittered with billions of stars, that seemed to dim in comparison to the brightness of the moon. The sky was usually covered by clouds because it snowed so much on Berk, or it was choked out by the cover of smoke created by fighting dragons. Ever since we became friends with the fire breathing creatures, we have had the blessing of more star filled nights like that particular night. It was absolutely beautiful.

We were silent as Toothless flew us around, his tongue sticking out with glee. We didn't need to say anything. I was perfectly happy flying around in silence, clinging to Hiccup as he steered his dragon. It wasn't until we could start to see the first rays of the morning sun that Toothless decided that it was finally time to land.

I slid off the dragon and waited for Hiccup to join me. As soon as his feet touched the ground I leaned forward and kissed him deeply. I could feel his breath leave him and I pressed my body against his, reveling in the moment. I wanted it to last forever, just like so many moments before. But I knew it wouldn't. I still had work to do.

"Same time tomorrow?" I asked him in a quiet voice, barely removing my lips from his.

"Sure," he muttered back. We stood there close to each other for a long moment before Hiccup finally took a step back and pulled himself back onto Toothless and they took off. I stood there for awhile, watching the sky where they had disappeared. I sighed and slowly made my way back home.

I had almost made it back to my house when I suddenly heard a voice calling to me. "You're out pretty early this morning, don't you think, lady?" a small child like voice asked. I turned around but saw absolutely no one. Then I looked up and spotted a small, scruffy child on one of the rooftops. He was pale with freckles and shaggy hair and he talked with a lisp.

"What's it to you?" I growled in reply. "Besides, you're looking pretty suspicious yourself sitting on that roof. What do you think you're doing?" I shook my head. "Who are you anyways?"

"The name's Leech," the small boy replied. "I just needed some fresh air so I came out here." He carefully slid down the house until he was standing before me. As soon as I got a better look at him, I could tell he was a Skullhead. "I saw you sneaking out last night and I was a little curious about where you were going."

"Were you spying on me?" I asked, slightly shocked. I relaxed when he shook his head.

"I just saw you leaving is all," he replied. He looked at me expectantly. "So what were you doing?"

"Not that it's any of your business," I told him shortly. "But I was seeing someone. And you can't tell anyone either. It's a secret."

"A secret, eh?" Leech replied thoughtfully. He looked me over and smiled. "Hey, you're Astrid, aren't you?" I blinked at him in surprise.

"How did you know that?" I asked him.

"My sister and father have been talking about you," he told me. "About how you were Hiccup's girlfriend. I'm really sorry. It's terrible if you ask me. Isabella always gets what she wants." He sighed in frustration and kicked at the ground. I was surprised that this small Skullhead boy would care about my problem and be truly sorry for me. It touched my heart. He looked up at me suddenly. "I want to help."

"Help with what?" I asked surprise and taken off guard. He rolled his eyes slightly.

"I want to help you get back at Isabella and stop this," he explained. "Don't tell me you haven't thought of some way to stop her!"

"Well I have," I admitted. "But why would you want to help? I don't even know you."

"Because," he replied. "I'm tired of her always getting what she wants all the time. Mother and father are always talking about her and gushing over her like she's some sort of princess. Nobody even thinks about her poor younger brother. Some of my own tribe think she's an only child!"

Now I was really confused. "You're Isabella's brother?" I asked in surprise. "I didn't even know she had a brother."

"See? That's what I'm talking about!" Leech exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "Please let me help! I know my sister better than anyone else! She hates me! I can make her life a living nightmare!"

I hesitated. "I don't know…" I muttered uncertainly. He cocked an eyebrow and put his hands on his hips.

"If you don't let me help, I'll tell everyone about where you've been sneaking off to," he threatened. Cheeky kid! He was clever.

"Ok, you can help," I told him, smiling slightly. "But you've got to do what I say. Got it?"

"Got it," Leech agreed, nodding his head excitedly.

"Good," I replied. "Then get out of here. I don't want anyone to know about this conversation. Meet me later in the great hall and I'll fill you in on the plan."

"Gotcha," he answered, saluting. Then he nimbly leaped back onto the roof tops and just like that was gone.

**I am so sorry this took so long. I was having terrible writer's block and every Mondays and Wednesdays I have three uber long classes that don't get out until…late. But I finally finished so please don't tie me to a stake and burn me alive.**

**By the way, I just want you to know that I was planning on Leech being in the story from the very beginning; I just didn't know where to put him. I thought it would be fun for Astrid to have a fateful encounter with him. I hope you like him because he'll be appearing a lot more often. Don't forget to read and review, otherwise I won't have the motivation to update.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Despite being swamped with classes (five) I vow to continue to update this story. It is by far my most successful, and I don't want to let my readers down! Thankfully my classes aren't terribly difficult, and I have long periods of nothing in between some of them. Plus I have no classes on Friday! Yes! I'm also singing in my Church's choir now, but I'll manage.**

**Disclaimer: So what if my Gaia profile is filled with How to Train your Dragon pictures? I'm not obsessed! Really!**

**Chapter Whatever Hiccup**

"_Hate is a strong word, but I really, really, really don't like you! Now that it's over I don't even know what I liked about you! Brought you around, and you just brought me down! Hate is a strong word, but I really, really, really don't like you!"_

Toothless was somehow filled with energy the next morning, while my own head was spinning from the lack of sleep. The dragon had to lead me carefully into the hall where the Vikings gathered to eat, as I didn't have enough energy to get there myself.

When we entered the hall, I immediately noticed that Astrid was across the room, talking to a small Skullhead boy. They were muttering in low voices, too low for me to hear. Curious, I looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before making my way over to them. I was only half way across the room before Astrid looked up and spotted me. She subtly gestured me over and I took a seat next to her.

"Who's this?" I asked, looking at the small Skullhead boy.

"Hiccup, this is Leech," Astrid introduced. "He's Isabella's younger brother."

"Isabella has a brother?" I asked, slightly surprised. Leech rolled his eyes in reply.

"Yes, she has a brother," he growled slightly. "But she doesn't like to admit it. My sister was always the favorite of the family. She likes to point that out constantly." Shaking his head, he suddenly looked at me and smiled. "You must be Hiccup, huh?" he asked. "Wow, I feel like I'm talking to a celebrity or something."

"Really?" I asked, slightly surprised. Leech nodded.

"All of the other tribes are talking about how you managed to destroy the Green Death," he told me. "You're famous with the other tribes."

I always forgot how quickly news travelled around the Viking tribes. To me, beating the Green Death had been not as big of a deal as everything that followed. I only just remembered to nod to the Skullhead boy.

I was about to say something to him, when I was interrupted by the approaching Garlo the Gruesome. I really had no quarrels against the man, but I couldn't help but feel that this was his and Stoick's fault that all this was happening. Even so, I forced myself to remain calm and polite as he sat down with us at the table.

"Hello there, Hiccup," he greeted me. "I've been looking for you. I just wanted to get to know my future son-in-law." I flinched as Astrid snorted in contempt.

"It's quite an honor, sir," I replied politely, trying not to sound too bitter. He turned to look at Astrid, who had quickly hid her snarling face.

"And who might you be, little lady?" he asked. "A friend of Hiccup's?"

"You might say that," Astrid told him with a slight hiss. Garlo continued to smile, completely unaware of the awkward tension that was rising in the air. He started into his breakfast, completely ignoring the angry look he was getting from Leech. It took a moment or two in which Leech pointedly cleared his throat several times before his father finally looked up and noticed him.

"Oh, hey there, son!" he greeted him happily. "When did you come and sit down?"

"I've been here this entire time," Leech growled unhappily.

"Ha ha! Of course you have," Garlo replied, ruffling his son's hair before digging back into his meal. Leech angrily smoothed his mess of hair back before propping his head onto his hand and started stabbing at things on his plate.

I didn't think it could have possibly gotten any more awkward, but just then Isabella came strutting up to us and sat down next to me, proving me wrong. Astrid glared furiously at her and I was surprised that the girl didn't spontaneously burst into flame. Isabella turned to sneer at Astrid before turning to me.

"What do you think you're doing sitting near the likes of her?" she asked me, pointing an accusing finger at Astrid. I tried not to glare at her.

"I happen to like Astrid, thank you very much," I told her. "And I can sit with anyone I want."

Isabella looked like she wanted to say something to reply, but thought better of it. Instead, she turned to Astrid, turning her nose up at her.

"Why don't you scamper off and kill a harmless rabbit or whatever it is you barbarians do?" she snarled at her. I opened my mouth to defend her, but Astrid beat me.

"Well I would," she replied icily calm. "But I was here first and you can't make me move. And second, I would go and kill a rabbit, but it turns out that rabbit is actually a lying snake in disguise." **(A/N: Oh yeah! Burn!)**

That tore it. Before any of us could stop her, Isabella let out an angry screech and leaped at Astrid, climbing over the table to get at her. Astrid fell out of her chair in surprise and the two furious girls fell to the floor in tangle of fists and feet.

I stared in horror at the scene as several other Vikings came rushing over to watch. Snotlout, the twins and Fishlegs were in front, Tuffnutt and Snotlout exclaiming their pleasure at the cat fight. Fishlegs had covered his eyes and Leech sat beside me screaming "Get her, Astrid!"

Isabella had somehow climbed on top of Astrid and was clawing at her face while tugging on her hair, while Astrid was struggling to get her feet under her, while digging her fingers into Isabella's neck. She slowly pulled a leg to her chest and started kicking Isabella savagely in the stomach.

Now, here's where the greatest difference between my dad and Garlo come in. If Stoick was here, he would have screamed and shouted furiously and scared the two girls apart, not allowing either to explain. Instead, Garlo calmly wiped his mouth after setting down his fork and knife and slowly turned in his chair to watch the furious young females. Then he sighed, stood, and calmly walked over to the two, yanking Isabella off of Astrid and pulling them both to their feet, while keeping them a safe distance away from each other. And just like that, the fight was over.

Both girls were panting and gasping for breath while glaring furiously at each other. He glared disappointingly down at his daughter, the one he was so proud of.

"What was that?" he asked the two of them in a soft growl.

"It's all her fault, Daddy!" Isabella sobbed immediately, pointing an accusing finger at Astrid. "She won't stop tormenting me and threatening me! I've been trying to be nice and polite, but she's such a barbarian!"

"Hey!" Astrid snapped. "You attacked me first! I was sitting here minding my own business when she came over and started trying to order Hiccup and me around."

Garlo nodded thoughtfully as they accused each other. He hadn't been paying much attention until they had started fighting, and therefore had seen none of it. I kept expecting him to burst out yelling, like Stoick always did, but he remained completely calm.

"Dad, I've been talking with Astrid and she doesn't seem like the type who would just hate someone with no good reason," Leech spoke up suddenly.

"Stay out of this, Leech," Isabella hissed furiously at him. "It's none of your business."

"Come on, Dad," Leech pleaded, turning to Garlo. "You saw it happen. We all saw Isabella start it."

"I didn't start this!" Isabella replied indignantly, sticking her nose in the air. "She's the one who started it. She's just jealous because I'm prettier and smarter than her."

Astrid tried to throw herself at the girl again, but was held back by Garlo's giant hairy hand. I quickly stepped forward and put a comforting hand on Astrid's shoulder. I felt her relax under my touch. Garlo turned angrily to the four of us.

"I don't want to hear another word out of anyone," he growled. "I need to talk to Stoick about this. Until then, I want you all to go back to your homes." He seemed to direct this to everyone, including the watching crowd that had not yet dispersed. Everyone mumbled angrily and went back to what they were doing as Garlo took Isabella and Leech by the arms and started leading them away. He turned to gesture at Astrid and me and we reluctantly followed.

We slowly followed Garlo through the village and up to my house where Stoick would no doubt blow his top. He had no reason to be mad at me (or really Astrid for that matter) but I was sure he'd find a way to yell at us anyways.

Toothless followed closely behind me, as if just walking through the village was going to harm me in some way. Both Isabella and Leech in front of us were complaining that their father was crushing their arms and I rolled my eyes slightly. I glanced at Astrid and suddenly saw blood trickling down her face.

"Astrid, are you ok?" I asked her in a quiet voice. She looked at me, defiance in her eyes.

"Of course I am," she growled slightly. "Isabella doesn't know how to throw a punch to save her life."

"But she was scratching at your face," I replied, slightly confused.

"Yes," Astrid nodded. "But she wasn't punching, was she?" She raised her head proudly, as if her logic made perfect sense and I sighed slightly, shaking my head. "Besides," Astrid continued. "I've been in worse scuffles. I've felt more threatened by Fishlegs."

I snickered slightly at her comment and returned to facing forward. "It's strange that Leech would be cheering for you instead of his own sister," I commented.

"Leech told me he doesn't like her very much because she always gets her way and his family hardly notices him," Astrid told me with a shrug, still in a low voice.

I slowed my steps slightly at that. I remembered when I was sort of like that. Before the whole Dragon incident, everyone wanted Snotlout, my cousin, to be chief over me. In fact, almost everyone, save for my dad and Gobber tended to ignore me. I could tell where Leech was coming from and was suddenly hit with a wave of sympathy for the young Skullhead. What a terror it must be for your own family to ignore you.

My thoughts were cut off when we reached my house and Garlo threw open the door, marching us all in. Stoick was sitting at the table, eating porridge, when we came in, and he looked up when he heard the door bang open.

"All of you to your rooms," Garlo ordered us. "I need to talk to Stoick here."

Isabella and Leech slowly started up the stairs, Isabella grumbling angrily to herself. Astrid opened her mouth, as if she was going to point out how she didn't live here and therefore didn't _have _a room to go to, but thought better of it. Instead she took my arm and led me up the stairs to my room, where we found Leech sitting on my bed, waiting for us.

"I thought your dad told you to go to your own room," Astrid pointed out to him. Leech shrugged.

"Well, I didn't want to," he replied. He waited for us to come in with Toothless squeezing in after us before continuing. "That was cool the way you were able to fend off my sister like that," he told Astrid excitedly. Astrid shrugged.

"Eh, she wasn't very tough," she replied. "I was in more pain stubbing my toe." She sighed. "I just hope they don't yell at me for this. It's not like I said anything that would provoke her to attack me like that."

"If I recall, you called her a snake," I commented, walking over to my nightstand and pouring hot water into a bowl. I took a towel and came back over to Astrid and started washing the blood from her face.

"Implied," Astrid shot back. "I implied that she was a snake. She just assumed that I was talking about her."

"You were talking about her," Leech pointed out.

"Yes, but she didn't know that," Astrid snorted indignantly. She relaxed slightly as the cloth touched her face and her shoulders slumped as she sighed. She turned to me and smiled gently. "Thanks, Hiccup," she murmured. I grinned back at her.

"Anytime, Astrid," I replied. "Anytime."

**Ok, if I go on, it's going to end up being pointless filler stuff, so I'm going to stop right there. On the bright side, cat fight! Always fun! Also, I have a five day weekend coming up, which I will most likely fill with just sitting at this computer and wasting my time writing fan fictions. So if you want to see what happens next, you better read and review. Or else. I'll do something terrible… or something.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok, so after not updating in too long, I think I've left you in the dark for long enough. I know a lot of you have questions about Leech, and I hope I'll be able to answer them. Let's just say Ruffnut and Tuffnut would look like the world's closest siblings compared to Leech and Isabella. Anyways, fortunately, I haven't quite forgotten where I was going with all this.**

**And just so you know, Hiccup does hate how he's being fought over like he's some sort of prize. But never fear he's going to do something about it.**

**Chapter uh…What Chapter was I on Now? Astrid**

"_When you see my face, hope it gives you hell! When you walk my way hope it gives you hell! If find a man that's worth a damn that treats well, then he's a fool. You're just as well, hope it gives you hell!"_

It seemed to take forever before Garlo and Stoick called us back down to the main room. The four of us slowly made our way down the stairs and I had half a mind to shove Isabella down them. Garlo and Stoick did not look pleased to see us, and I could see why. Not that they could blame me. It wasn't my fault.

"Well?" Garlo prompted. "Who wants to start the explaining? What happened?"

"I told you, daddy," Isabella cried before we could speak. "This barbarian here just suddenly attacked me for no good reason!" She started sobbing. "I mean, I try to be nice and everything and I even felt bad for her, but she was just so mean to me!"

I glared at her with all of the hatred in my heart. "That's not what happened at all!" I snarled. "You started it! None of this would have happened if you hadn't come to our island in the first place!"

"You see?" Isabella gasped. "There she is blaming me and I didn't even do anything!"

"Yeah, except ruin lives," Leech growled under his breath.

"Can I just say something?" Hiccup asked, trying to make himself heard.

"No," Garlo and Stoick said at the same time. Hiccup let out an annoyed sigh as the rest of us went back to arguing.

"You've seen the looks she's given me," the brat continued in her pathetic voice. "She wants to get rid of me, I know it! She keeps threatening me too!"

"I've barely even spoken to you," I hissed at her. "If anything, you're trying to get rid of me!"

"I'm sure no one's trying to get rid of anyone," Stoick growled. "This is a peaceful visit and none of you are to ruin it. Neither of us want to see any more fighting between the two of you."

"And that goes for all of you," Garlo added, glaring at Leech.

"In all honesty," Hiccup started. "I really don't think that-"

"You should tell her that," Isabella interrupted him, pointing at me. "She's the brute who just use violence for everything. I don't know why you haven't done anything about her sooner. None of this would happen if she'd just stay out of it."

"You stay out of it," I growled at her.

"Enough," Garlo snapped over us. "I think there is really only one solution to all of this." We held our breath as we waited for him to continue. Did he realize that this wedding was a stupid idea and cancel it? Were they going to leave once and for all? "Astrid," he continued, looking at me. "You are banned from the wedding." My heart sank. "It's the only way we can make sure that this wedding goes ahead as planned."

Hiccup, Leech and I immediately tried to argue against this, talking at once in an outrage. How was this going to fix anything? Everyone watching would have said Isabella started the fight! It was obvious that this wedding was a bad idea. But Stoick and Garlo would have none of it.

"Our decision is final," Stoick growled. "Trust me, this is for the best."

"You always say that!" Hiccup blurted out suddenly, surprising us. He glared at his father angrily. "But it's not! Why can't you see that? Can't you see that everything is worse?" His father stared at him in astonishment. I couldn't help but stare too. I had never seen Hiccup look so angry before. Without giving any of us time to recover, Hiccup turned on his heel and stormed out of the house with Toothless following.

I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn't stand looking at anyone in the room, so I too turned and ran. I was thinking of following Hiccup, but I knew he needed time to himself. Toothless would be able to calm him down. Those two had a special connection; something I wish I had with him. Instead, I found myself running blindly to the twins' house. Ruffnut was never the one who said the right comforting words, but I just needed a friend at that moment.

She opened the door as soon as I knocked and was surprised by the look in my eyes. She gestured me inside and quickly led me to her room. Sitting down beside me, she offered me a cup of Viking tea.

"I heard that you were in a fight today," she commented. "Who won?"

"She did," I hissed angrily, looking down at my cup. Ruffnut looked at me in surprise.

"But you're the strongest person I know!" she gasped. "And she looks as skinny and weak as a stick!"

"I know," I sighed, taking a sip of the tea. "But she won the fight over all. I'm not allowed to the wedding. The Chiefs wouldn't listen to a word I said. They didn't even seem to believe that she was the one who started the fight." Taking another sip, I turned to Ruffnut. "This tea is really good," I told her. "Who made it?"

"Tuffnut," she answered simply. At first I thought she was joking, but from the look on her face, I could tell that she wasn't. Sighing she looked at me. "So, what are we going to do now?" she asked me. "Because I don't know about you, but I'm not going down without a fight."

I wish I could share in her confidence, but I didn't know what more we could do. Hiccup was going to be married against his will to some brat and none of us had any say in it. I didn't even know whose fault this all was. Was Garlo? Or Stoick? Or maybe even Isabella was the one who had convinced them that this was a good idea. Either way, it didn't help.

"This sucks," Ruffnut sighed, next to me. "It seems to me like the only way we could convince the Chiefs that this is wrong is if we were to stop the wedding or something."

A thought suddenly struck me. I couldn't go to the wedding, but they didn't say Ruffnut and the others couldn't. A plan started forming in my head and to Ruffnut's amazement, I smiled.

"When is the wedding taking place again?" I asked her, my mind rushing. Ruffnut thought for a moment.

"I think it's three days from now," she replied. "Why?"

"Go get Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Tuffnut," I told her. "Oh, and Toothless and Leech, Isabella's brother. They're going to want in on this." At those words, Ruffnut smiled knowingly.

"I know that look," she grinned. "I love that look. You have a plan, don't you?"

"Oh, I have a plan," I replied. Isabella was going down.

**From how long it took me to update, I'm sorry that this chapter isn't longer, but we need to start getting to the point. No more moping around for Astrid and Hiccup. They're speaking up now and putting a stop to this. And thankfully, they have help from all over.**

**Get excited, the final showdown is slowly approaching and I know none of want to miss it. Again, I'm sorry about how long it took me to write this. I have this thing called "life." I really need to get rid of it. Anyways, please read and review and I promise I will be updating again in no time.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow, it took me almost as long to update this chapter as it did the last chapter. It's a good thing none of you know I live in New York! Anyways, thanks to the new show on Cartoon Network, I'm finally back into How to Train Your Dragon. And I still remember what was going to happen for the rest of the fan fiction.**

**The bad news is that there are only three more chapters left in this fan fiction. The good news is that they're going to be really fun chapters. This chapter is a little different in that it's going to switch from Hiccup, Astrid, Leech, Ruffnut, and Toothless's points of view. I need all of them to be able to go through Astrid's convoluted plan. This Chapter will be a bit longer than the others so brace yourself!**

**Chapter Ten – Hiccup, Astrid, Leech, Ruffnut, and Toothless**

"_It's a beautiful night! We're looking for something dumb to do! Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you! Is it the look in your eye? Or is it this dancing juice? Who cares, baby? I think I wanna marry you!"_

Astrid

The plan was simple. We prepared for the entire three days 'til the wedding. The twins were probably the most excited about the plan and I was surprised about how eager everyone was to help me. They made me proud to be my friends. Step one was easy. We were to simply spend the three days acting like Isabella had won. We gave no indication that we had a plan.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ruffnut muttered to me one evening.

"Trust me," I muttered back. "As long as we stick to the plan, nothing can go wrong."

"Do you think we should tell Hiccup?"

That was a question that I had asked myself many times while formulating this plan. I didn't know why I didn't tell Hiccup what I was planning. I was sure that it wouldn't change if he knew of it or not. But for some reason I wasn't willing to tell him about it. It wasn't that I couldn't really be seen talking to him. Ruffnut could have easily filled him in. But I didn't want her too. I wasn't sure why.

Isabella looked quite triumphant during those three days. She strutted around the village, acting like she owned everything. She had no idea what we were up too. And that just made it all the more satisfying.

The night before the wedding, I called Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Toothless and Leech to the dragon training arena to go over the plan one last time. I wanted to make sure everything would go smoothly.

"Alright," I said in a low voice, looking around to make sure no one was passing by and could overhear us. "Everyone remembers their parts right?" They all nodded. "Now, the wedding's going to take place in the great hall. Garlo has ordered me on house lock down until the wedding is over. But we'll take care of that. Fishlegs and Toothless, you're the distractions."

"Got it," Fishlegs replied nodding. "Toothless and I can be called 'Worm Bait'."

I sighed. "Fine, whatever. Snotlout?"

"I'm the Talker," he responded, standing up straight.

"And Ruffnut and Tuffnut," I continued, turning to them. "You're 'The Bouncer'."

They laughed. "Heh, Bouncer," Tuffnut scoffed. "Where do you come up with this stuff?"

"And I'll be 'The Whine!'" Leech added proudly, puffing out his chest. I nodded, trying hard not to grin too much. "This is the funniest plan I have ever been a part of!"

"Then we all remember what to do?" I asked anxiously, looking at them.

"Of course," Tuffnut snorted. "What do you take us for?"

"Tomorrow, all hell will break loose," Ruffnut agreed, a dreamy tone to her voice.

Hiccup

I wasn't quite sure why everyone was avoiding me. I didn't see Fishlegs, the twins, or Astrid at all during those horrid three days. Toothless kept close to me, but he was always grinning as if he some sort of inside joke or something. Whenever I asked him what he was so happy about, he redirected the question and wouldn't answer.

I had almost started to forgive my father until he banned Astrid from the wedding. Then I just couldn't stand him anymore. I didn't want to stay in the same house as him anymore, so I asked to stay with Gobber for a while. For some reason he was very eager to let me sleep in his spare room. It seemed like everyone was in on something except me.

I didn't want to wake up when the day of the wedding finally rolled around. I was hoping if I just lay in bed the whole day they would forget about me and just continue the wedding without me. But I was sure that wasn't going to happen, so I forced myself to open my eyes. I was expecting to see Toothless close by my side, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Snotlout sat on my bed, grinning at me as if his birthday had come early. I gave a start when I saw him.

"Snotlout, what are you doing here?" I asked as I sat up, trying to catch my breath.

"Well, I just wanted to wish you good luck during the wedding," he told me earnestly. "I also wanted to tell you a story. Something that might help you or cheer you up."

"I hardly doubt a story is going to cheer me up," I grumbled, rubbing my eyes and trying to pull myself out of bed. Snotlout stopped me.

"Nonsense," he replied, grinning even wider. "You've never heard one of my stories. Now then, once upon a time, there was a handsome, rugged young man, me, who was born into the great Hairy Hooligan Tribe. I was brave, good looking, strong, amazingly fast, and most of all, modest…"

Toothless

I woke early and made sure that Hiccup didn't wake up as I slowly crept down the stairs and out the door. I breathed in a breath of fresh air, looking around. I really hoped that Astrid knew what she was doing. There were several things that we had to make sure happened in order for Astrid to get here in time. One was to stall Hiccup, which Snotlout would be doing. The next was to stall Isabella, which was being taken care of. Fishlegs and I would be doing two jobs at once. Distract the guards around the great hall and where they were keeping Astrid, and to stall Stoick and Garlo.

Looking around, I was afraid that Fishlegs was oversleeping or forget where we were supposed to meet. But I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him trotting towards me, red faced and slightly out of breath. He smiled when he saw me and quickened his pace.

"There you are," he panted. "I was afraid that I would forget where we were supposed to be. Have you seen the chiefs yet?"

I shook my head. I really couldn't speak human, but that didn't stop Hiccup from understanding me. Fishlegs sighed, taking a quick glance around to make sure that no one was sneaking up on us.

"Ok, we have to wait until they're within eyesight," he recalled, speaking in a lower voice. "Until then, we just pretend that we're having a pleasant conversation. You remember the signal when you see them coming?"

I nodded. Of course I remembered the signal! Who did he think I was? I let out a slight bark, just spitting out the most random words that popped into my head, pretending to have a conversation as Fishlegs repeatedly said "watermelon" over and over with different tones of voice. Just like a totally normal conversation.

Then, out of the corner of our eyes, we spotted them. Garlo and Stoick was slowly marching towards us, wearing their best Viking helmets, chests puffed out and walking side by side. Fishlegs leaned over and muttered into my ear. "Here they come," he whispered. "You know what to do."

I nodded. Then, seemingly without warning, I let out a dangerous and threatening growl and I narrowed my eyes menacingly. I crouched low and pounced at Fishlegs, and he let out a cry of fear as I bared my teeth down on him.

Leech

Distracting my sister would not be easy. That's probably why Astrid had this in two parts. We couldn't let anyone show up at the same time. That was the biggest point. Someone had to arrive late and continue to stall the wedding until Astrid got there. But nobody knew my sister like I did. I couldn't wait to see her nasty plot fail. Maybe then people would start noticing me a bit more.

Isabella rose early, and thankfully she always sang in the morning, singing about how great she was. This was to my advantage, since I was immediately awake as soon as she sang the first note. I snuck over to her room, and saw that she was already in her hideous wedding dress. I tried not to gag as I looked at her. She looked more annoying than usual. But I had to be pleasant, no matter what.

"Hey sis!" I greeted cheerfully, stepping into her room. "What are you doing?"

She jumped slightly and spun to face me. "What does it look like?" she asked, trying to keep her voice pleasant. "I'm getting ready for my wedding, which you should be doing the same thing."

"The wedding?" I asked, sounding confused. "Oh, was that today? I totally forgot!"

"Yes, well," Isabella sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm heading over to the Great Hall now, so you can just go and get ready then."

"Actually I wanted to ask you something," I said quickly, moving slightly to block her from leaving the room. She narrowed her eyes.

"Can't you ask me as we're walking over there?" She asked, sounding frustrated. I blinked at her.

"No," I answered simply. She let out a frustrated hiss.

"Fine, what do you want?" she asked, sitting down on her bed. I thought for a moment. What sort of question could keep her talking the longest? An idea popped into my head.

"Where do babies come from?" I asked, trying to look curious and not smile too much. She blinked in surprise at me and her face grew red as I continued. "I mean, dad told me the stork brought them, but mom said they grow from trees. So where do they come from?"

"Um, well," she stuttered, clearly embarrassed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Well…where to begin? Oh gee, um, see it's a little complicated…"

"Take your time," I replied, grinning slightly. "We're in no big hurry…"

Astrid

My plan was working just the way I had thought. From my window, I could see Toothless attack Fishlegs. His cries carried up to me. I saw the dragon bite him, but not wound him. First the two Vikings on either side of the great hall doors quickly ran over to them, attempting to break up their "fight." Then Garlo and Stoick spotted them and quickened their pace. Garlo was shouting something and I saw the two Vikings guarding me run towards them as well.

Now was my chance. Toothless and Fishlegs had done it. I didn't know how long their fight would last, but it would give me enough time to escape. Working quickly, I grabbed pillows, straw, and an extra set of clothes, fashioning them onto my bed to look like me. Then I quickly picked the lock on my door, snuck into the hall and relocked my door, like I never left. I took off my boots and crept down the stairs, one at a time. Carefully, I opened the window in the back of my house and was quickly gone. Step one was complete.

Toothless

I wouldn't let go of Fishleg's arm, and he punched at my head. He called me names as he kicked at me and I let out an even fiercer growl. Two Vikings attempted to pull us apart, but they weren't succeeding. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Stoick and Garlo had spotted us. As we planned, Garlo called out to Astrid's guards and they came running towards us. Perfect.

"What is going on here?" Stoick boomed as he and Garlo came storming up to us. In one swift movement, he was able to pull Fishlegs and me apart. We stood for a moment, catching our breath and pretending to glare at each other. Stoick looked back and forth at us, anger burning in his eyes as he looked at us. "Well, Fishlegs? What happened?"

"Why on earth were you two fighting?" Garlo asked curiously.

"Well, we were on our way to the great hall, and Toothless was mad because he wasn't the best man," Fishlegs stuttered, looking a bit fearful. "I told him that he couldn't be the best man because he's a dragon, you know. And then he told me that I couldn't be the best man because I was too fat."

"How do you know what Toothless said?" Stoick asked, his brows coming together. "He's a dragon!" Fishlegs grinned sheepishly up at his leader. I let out a growl in response.

"No, you're the fatty," he snapped at me, turning to glare at me. I was almost convinced that he was really angry at me. I growled something else at him, enjoying this moment. "No you are!" he shouted back. We pounced at each other again and rolled around in the dust, forcing Stoick to pull us apart once more.

"Enough!" he growled. "Fishlegs, you are pretty fat. You're going to have to eat more meat or something." I laughed at him. "And Toothless, I hate to say this, but you are indeed a dragon. So you can't be best man." I let out a wine and Fishlegs said "Ha!" Stoick glared at him before turning back to us. "Now go clean yourselves up. I want no more fighting, understand?" We both solemnly nodded. "Good." Then he and Garlo stomped away as we exchanged guilty glances.

Before the two guards that were in front of the great hall could return to their posts, however, Fishlegs called to them to stop. "Actually, Baggy Bum said that he wants you two to guard Hiccup's room," he lied. "Stoick doesn't want anything happening to him until the ceremony." The two Vikings shrugged and lumbered away towards our home. With a smile, Fishlegs turned to me. "Do you think that gave Astrid enough time?"

With a smile, I nodded. We started walking away, Fishlegs pausing for a moment to caw into the air. Then we went into the great hall.

Leech

"…And it is very painful," Isabella sighed finally, finishing her make up in the mirror (she had put so much on that she now looked like a banshee). She turned to me. "Now does that answer all of your questions?"

"I guess," I started. I didn't get to say any more as she shoved me aside and started walking down the steps. I didn't know what to do. My sister was determined to reach the great hall. "Wait!" I called, running after her. She froze to turn angrily towards me.

"What is it now?" she snarled, pausing right outside the door. Thinking fast, I clutched at my side.

"Ow!" I cried. "Oh, agony! I think I broke my liver! It's on fire! All that running damaged it! I'm in so much pain! Oh the pain! My liver is definitely broken!"

Isabella turned to look at me in surprise before looking to make sure there was no one else around. Unfortunately for her, there was. She never did like it when I made a scene. She turned back to me, anger in her eyes.

"Come on, Leech," she growled. "You're fine. You didn't break it, I'm sure you're fine." Then she paused for a moment. "You're not even holding your liver! That's your spleen!"

I blinked in surprise at her, my eyes widening as far as they could go. "My spleen?" I gasped. "Oh no! That's even worse! My spleen is in pain! Oh the agony!" I pounced and wrapped my arms around her leg, bawling in a loud voice. "Oh save me sister!"

"I don't have time for this, Leech," Isabella hissed as she proceeded to drag me across the dirt, one heavy footstep at a time. All the time I was moaning and groaning and screaming at the top of my lungs, shouting out how I was going to die and how cruel of a sister I had for letting me die. "You're not dying," she snapped at me as she slowly dragged us toward the great hall. "Now will you let go of my leg already?"

But it wouldn't be enough. As we neared the hall, something else was standing in Isabella's way.

Ruffnut

As soon as I heard the signal, my brother and I carefully crept out of our hiding place and took a station on either side of the grand doors. The two Vikings were no longer there, just as Astrid had planned it. I snickered at my brother as we took our posts, trying to look important and as if we had been here the entire time. I was surprised that we had even made it this far in the plan and judging by the look on Tuffnut's face, he was too.

Just as we thought, not before long, Isabella came slowly towards us with Leech hanging off of her leg, moaning about spleen problems. I gave a small nod to Tuffnut, who nodded back. We knew what we needed to do.

As Isabella dragged herself forward, I held up a hand to stop her.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked in a big, Viking like tone. She glared at me.

"To my wedding," she growled. "Where do you think?"

"Are you on the guest list?" my brother asked, his voice surprisingly steady.

"What are you talking about?" she snarled at him, her frustration growing.

"We can't let anyone into the wedding who's not on the guest list," he replied, an eyebrow slowly rising as he stared at her. "It's the rule put by Isabella of the Skullheads." She blinked at him, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I'm right here!" she shouted at us. I looked her up and down.

"Did you bring Isabella with you?" I asked.

"I am Isabella!" she snapped at me.

"Ooh! Big deal!" I scoffed, waving my hands slightly. I never thought I could have ever seen such hatred on one girl's face. "Now, are you on the guest list or not?"

"I just told you! This is MY wedding!" she hollered at me, nearly at wit's end.

"Can you prove it?" Tuffnut wondered calmly, a hint of a smile on his face. Instead of answering, she let out a cry of frustration and tried to run towards the door. But Leech was still clinging to her leg and Tuffnut and I growled "Stop intruder!" We both dived, and tackled her to the ground.

Hiccup

"…And then I got into an argument with the weapon maker over my axe," Snotlout continued.

"How long is this story?" I asked him with a sigh.

"It gets better," Snotlout reassured me. "Anyways, eventually I just 'Nertz to you!' and then I ditched that battle axe…"

"It's not getting better," I pointed out to him.

"And then I got this new one!" he concluded, holding up the axe to show me. "See? It has a carving of a dragon on it."

"That's great Snotlout," I sighed. "Is that the point of the story?"

"Oh no," he replied. "I'm nowhere near the point of my story. And I would get to it a lot faster if you just stopped interrupting all the time." I let out a sigh as my cousin launched into an entirely new story.

Ruffnut

Tuffnut, Leech and I flattened the screaming girl to the ground as she screeched at us, demanding to unhand her this instant. We struggled to keep her still, and it was a confusion of hands and feet. There was a lot of punching and kicking and confusion.

"What is going on here?" A voice boomed from behind us. We all stopped what we were doing and looked up. Stoick and Garlo were looming over us, a look of pure rage on their faces. We all quickly untangled ourselves and stood up before them, all trying to explain at the same time. "Enough," Stoick snapped at us. "Where are the two vikings that were supposed to be guarding the doors?"

"We are the two vikings who are guarding the door," Tuffnut pointed out calmly.

"And a good thing too," I added. "This girl was trying to sneak into the wedding without getting on the guest list."

"She's the bride," Garlo pointed out. "She's supposed to be here."

Tuffnut and I glanced at each other, then at the parchment in our hands. We pretended to study it for a moment, and then let out a slow "Oh!" Isabella tossed her head and rudely shoved past us. Garlo and Stoick started to follow, but Stoick paused and turned back to us.

"Where's Hiccup?" he asked us. Tuffnut and I shrugged. Our chief let out a frustrated sigh and started towards his own house. I stared anxiously after him. I only hoped that we had delayed the wedding for long enough.

Astrid

I kept to the shadows of the village, trying hard not to be seen. No one could know that I had snuck out. If anyone caught me, I would be sent back to my house and I would never be able to stop this wedding. But fortunately, no one saw me. I was always good at sneaking.

I paused to peak around a corner and the great hall came into sight. I saw Ruffnut and Tuffnut still standing guard, with Leech hovering nearby. Then Stoick came into view, marching Hiccup and Snotlout along with him. All three of them looked like they were on death row, waiting to meet their maker. I let out a sigh of relief. I was in time. Thor help me.

As soon as the doors to the great hall closed, I sprinted across the field to where the others were waiting for me. Ruffnut brightened when she saw me and she nudged her brother in his side to make him look.

"Good job guys!" I said in a low voice. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble!"

"Are you kidding?" Leech replied, grinning. "Bugging my sister is easy. It was pretending to listen to her that was the hard part. She never suspected a thing!"

"I'm just glad you got here in time," Ruffnut added. "I was starting to think that you weren't able to escape." I scoffed in indignation.

"Please," I replied. "Give me some credit." Then I turned serious. "All right, now all we have to do is wait. Ruffnut, keep an eye and ear out. When it comes to the right time, I'll burst in with an objection and challenge Isabella to a Viking fight."

Ruffnut was already opening the door a crack so she could see the entire ceremony. She didn't speak as she listened, obviously trying hard not to fall asleep as Gobber droned on. We all held our breath as we waited for the right moment. Eventually Ruffnut took a breath of anticipation.

"Ok, he's asking if anyone has any objections," she said quickly. "You're on, Astrid!"

I nodded and opened the doors. Gobber, who was marrying the two, was just finishing saying that we had to speak now or forever hold the peace. I took a deep breath to object, but before I could speak, another clear and loud voice spoke first. Who it came out of made us all pause and stare, my objection caught in my throat.

"I object!" Hiccup said in a clear, calm voice, resolution shining in his eyes.

**Finally! Chapter ten is over and we're finally coming to the climax! I am really happy with how this chapter turned out and with over four thousand words I think my readers will be satisfied with this chapter.**

**Who would have thought that it would be Hiccup speaking out at his own wedding? What's going to happen now that he's objected? What is he going to do to end this madness? And will Stoick try to stop him? We know Isabella will, but what is Hiccup up to? Well, there's only one way to find out. Cry about it to your mother! I mean, read and review! And then I can post the next chapter! Only two more to go!**


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